Children's self-reports of characteristics of their asthma episodes

Our purpose was to examine school-age children's self-reports of characteristics of their asthma episodes including the precipitating events, symptoms experienced during the episodes, and interventions used to resolve the episodes. Children's self-reports of their asthma episodes were assessed over a 6-week period for 42 children with persistent asthma who participated in a randomized, controlled clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of an asthma self-management program on adherence to recommended daily peak expiratory flow rate monitoring. Children were instructed to answer the following questions on the Asthma Report Form each time they experienced an asthma episode: 1) What were you doing; 2) How did you feel; and 3) What did you do to help your breathing? Of the children, 71% experienced at least one asthma episode during the 6 weeks. There were a total of 206 episodes. Physical activity (51%) was the most cited trigger, cough alone or combined with other symptoms (84%) was the predominant symptom, and rescue asthma medication (59%) was identified most often as the intervention used by the children to resolve the asthma episode. Children's self-reports provided valuable information about their asthma episodes. The finding that most of the children experienced at least one asthma episode during the 6-week period underscores the importance of family education on how to handle asthma episodes effectively at home. Because physical activity was cited most often as a trigger for asthma episodes, families should receive education on preventive steps for averting an asthma episode prior to the child engaging in physical activity.